How much should children drink?

• The standard recommendation is at least 6-8 glasses (1.5 - 2 litres) a day, drunk regularly throughout the day (at least 3-4 glasses while at school) ensuring that plenty of additional fluid is drunk during warm weather and/or when exercising."When exercising" means before, during and after exercise and is not restricted to formal PE and games lessons, but is also applicable to active play (e.g. football in the playground or periods of running around).
• The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Washington DC (2004), includes a separate category for teenage boys aged 14 over who require a higher average fluid intake of 2.6 litres (about 11 large glasses).
• Pupils spend at least half their waking hours in school. During this time, they should be drinking at least half their daily requirement, spread regularly throughout the day

What is dehydration?

• Dehydration is simply not having enough water in your body. It may result from inadequate water intake and/or from losing body water and can develop rapidly or slowly.

How can you tell if children are dehydrated?

• A lot of people don't even realise they are dehydrated because they have become so used to feeling below their best.
• Symptoms of mild dehydration can be difficult for teachers to spot. In class some children may become irritable, tired and less able to concentrate. By the time they get home many children are complaining of tiredness or headaches and some may be too lethargic to do anything but slump in front of the television. Although we may think of this behaviour as normal, it is now known that it may, at least in part, be due to the effects of dehydration.
• Children can be taught to recognize when their fluid intake is too low as the urine becomes concentrated (small amounts of deep yellow, cloudy, smelly urine). If their urine's no darker than the colour of pale straw, odourless and copious they're doing OK.

What are the effects of dehydration on children?

• The early effects of even mild dehydration are significant for health, well being, performance and learning - and in the long term carry a higher risk of a number of health problems and disease states. These include constipation, continence problems, kidney and urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and some cancers. In some scientific studies, a decrease in cancer risk was specifically associated with water, as opposed to any other fluids.

What's the link between wetting problems and drinking water?

• There is a link between not drinking enough and day and night wetting problems - and a low fluid intake is also a contributory factor in constipation and soiling.
• If children do not drink adequately during the day, their urine becomes concentrated which can irritate the bladder and may cause daytime wetting. Insufficient daily fluid intake can also reduce bladder capacity. If children then drink when they get home, their bladder may not be able to cope and bed-wetting may result. When children start drinking more during the day they may initially need to go to the toilet more, but once their bladder capacity has improved, they will need to go less frequently but will produce larger quantities of urine
• It is the experience of continence advisors that certain other drinks such as fizzy drinks, drinks containing caffeine, blackcurrant juice, and a high consumption of milk, particularly before bedtime, may be linked to wetting problems.

My child doesn't get water at school during or after exercise - what are the effects?

• It is in a school's best interest to promote water when exercising. Mild dehydration not only has an adverse effect on physical and mental performance and temperature regulation during exercise, making exercise feel harder and more tiring, but will also affect the subsequent mental performance, energy levels and mood of a child back in class. In the long-term, the effects on health from failing to rehydrate between bouts of exercise are significant.
• Children's drinking should be supervised, as they do not instinctively drink enough during exercise. An hour of just moderate and/or intermittent exercise can mean a child weighing 30kg can lose around half a litre of water, and in warm weather this loss could be much higher. Researchers advise that to restore normal fluid balance after exercise, we should consume at least the equivalent of 1.5 times (i.e. 150%) the fluid lost during exercise. The key to avoiding dehydration is to drink before exercise and at regular intervals during and after.
• If children are well hydrated, exercise feels easier and more enjoyable, helping to develop positive attitudes towards exercise and encouraging children to exercise more willingly another day.

What effect does dehydration have on the brain?

• Water makes up about 80% of the brain and is an essential element in neurological transmissions. Poor hydration adversely affects a child's mental performance and learning ability. Symptoms of mild dehydration may include tiredness, headaches and a feeling not unlike jet lag, as well as reduced alertness and ability to concentrate. Mental performance including memory, attention and concentration can decrease by about 10 per cent, once thirst is felt. Mental performance deteriorates progressively as the degree of dehydration increases. Thirst is usually felt when dehydration results in 0.8 - 2 per cent loss of body weight lost due to water loss. For a 10-year-old child weighing 30kg this is equivalent to one or two very large glasses of water (300ml each), which is the amount a child could lose during a PE lesson or running around in the playground. Water consumption also has an immediate alerting and revitalising effect. In schools taking part in the Food in Schools water provision pilot project, the consensus from teachers was that "enhanced provision contributed to a more settled and productive learning environment, as well as helping to instil good habits". The key to boosting the capacity to learn is to keep well hydrated throughout each day (ideally from a personal water bottle within arm's reach).

What are the current regulations for drinking water in schools?

• The Education (School Premises) Regulations (Department for Education and Skills, 1999) merely state that: 'A school shall have a wholesome supply of water for domestic purposes including a supply of drinking water.' These regulations do not specify the means of delivery, appropriate locations, whether the water should be accessible to the children and how often, the type and number of facilities per pupil, hygiene standards, or that water should be palatable.
• The National Healthy School Standard Guidance, 1999, similarly makes no reference to water facilities or access other than a basic requirement that "clean drinking water is provided". Furthermore, this requirement for drinking water is added to a sentence that deals with toilets; which gives the impression that drinking water should be provided in the toilets.
• The Guidance for Caterers for School Lunch Standards (Department for Education and Skills, 2001) expects that "drinking water should be available to all pupils every day free of charge". However, these are guidelines only, not requirements - and there are no guidelines for provision of water during the rest of the school day.

I'd like to improve the water situation in my school, where can I get more information?

ERIC has produced a range of Campaign materials for schools and parents. See resources page.

What are schools usually concerned about?

Money is rarely the issue, apart from in some very deprived areas of the country, as water facilities can be improved at relatively low cost or, in the case of bottles of tap water from home kept on pupil's desks, at no cost to the school at all. Schools are usually more concerned about disruption, misbehaviour and hygiene. The campaign appreciates these concerns but reports from schools show that these fears are largely unfounded and the benefits greatly outweigh any initial worries. We address the common concerns in the Information Pack for Schools.

How many schools have joined the Campaign?

Thousands of schools are already supporting the Campaign and the most popular scheme is to encourage pupils to bring in a bottle of tap water from home to drink from at their desks. Health and education teams have set up many regional water campaigns around the country and more are planned.

What is your opinion of schools encouraging pupils to drink water during exams, but not during normal lessons the rest of the year?

We have heard many reports of this happening in schools. While we normally welcome initiatives to promote drinking water during the school day, doing so for just one or two weeks seems to imply that the school doesn't have concerns for the health and well being of the pupils in their care during the rest of the long school year, which, we hope, would not be the case in any school. Drinking water regularly throughout the school day makes healthier pupils who in turn make better learners. Exam results are not determined by performance on the day alone. Children need to be adequately hydrated during all school lessons in order to maximise their learning potential. By the time a child feels thirsty, their mental performance may have deteriorated by 10% - attention, concentration and memory are all adversely affected. Furthermore, it normally takes a few weeks for bladders to adjust to an increased water intake so introducing increased water consumption at the start of exams is not very helpful! There are definite benefits to encouraging pupils to drink water during exams, not only improving performance but also helping to cool them down and reduce stress levels, but pupils should be drinking water regularly during the school day throughout the rest of the year too.

What has the government been doing?

• The government and two of the Regional Assemblies have responded with some initiatives and issued advice on good practice on drinking water provision.
• Water Provision Project 2003, England. To improve children's health, the Department of Health (DH) launched a project in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in March 2001 called the Food in Schools Programme, which includes drinking water. The DH commissioned ERIC to research and guide the Water Provision Project and to work with EdComs to carry out a pilot in 40 schools in the East Midlands and North East. The outcome of the pilot was analysed and good practice guidelines are due to be disseminated across England in 2005 to registered healthy schools.
• The Welsh Assembly has provided free mains-fed water coolers and personal water bottles to 384 schools in Communities First areas and produced Think Water booklets with the assistance of ERIC.
• The Scottish Executive has funded mains-fed water coolers, modern water fountains with swan necks and personal water bottles for all primary and secondary schools, with installations completed by 2006
• Healthy Living Blueprint for Schools. The DfES and DH published the Blueprint for Schools (Sept 2004). Objective 3 aims "to ensure that food and drink across the school day reinforces the healthy lifestyle message". The guidance for drinking water endorses our campaign message:"All pupils should have access to drinking water at all times at a number of points around the school, preferably not from taps in the toilets. Pupils should be permitted to carry water with them and consumption encouraged both in class and during break and lunch time." The Department of Education makes the advice on the location of facilities more explicit via its website TeacherNet: "drinking water should be available to pupils throughout the day at a number of points within a school, and not from taps or drinking fountains in the toilets".
• The Education (School Premises)Regulations 1999 are due to be revised in 2005,to make requirements for drinking water clearer. The DfES says the revision will ensure compatibility with Regulation 22 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1992.

Where can I find references to support the facts in this campaign website?

Most of the references can be found in the bound Information Booklets for Schools and Parents. See resources page